A variety of portable containers which keep beverages cool are known. These portable containers include a device for maintaining a desired low temperature for the beverages. However, it has been discovered that while such portable containers are popular, there are problems associated with their use, including inadequate cooling mechanisms, inaccessibility of the contained beverages, and awkward, bulky designs of the containers.
One such presently available portable container for keeping beverages cool is shown in Gibson patent No. 4,266,407, which illustrates a portable cooler having a coolant and a container with indentations for holding cans. However, this cooler does not include a structure having two separate compartments, one in which the cans are readily accessible and may be removed directly from the one compartment of the bag without opening the entire container, or the other compartment of the container holding the coolant device. Moreover, the Gibson cooler does not show cans which are cooled along their entire length by a coolant device.
Other portable containers include lids that insulate beverages in containers, such as the portable containers disclosed in Atkinson patent No. 4,295,345, Rhodes patent No. 4,459,827 and Pitchford patent No. 4,620,426. However, these containers do not teach the use of two separate compartments, one from which the cans are readily accessible without opening the entire container, and the other which holds a coolant.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an insulated cooling container for canned liquids having two separate compartments, with cans stored in one of the two compartments, separate from the coolant which is stored in the other compartment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an insulated cooling container for canned liquids having a coolant with individual recesses that individually nest and cool each can over a relatively large surface area.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an insulated cooling container for canned liquids where the cans are directly accessible for removal without disturbing the coolant in a separate, adjacent compartment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an insulated cooling container for canned liquids which is adapted to fit into the shoe compartment of a golf bag.